Eat Out Eat Well

Food for Fun and Thought

Are You Ready For Some Conversation (Hearts)?

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“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk, ” “Tweet Me.”

Candy hearts, originally called motto hearts, the brightly colored heart shaped candy with the stamped red sayings, have been iconic Valentine’s Day treats since 1902.

Also known as conversation hearts, motto hearts, and sweethearts, they’re manufactured by NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company, which has been in business since 1847.

How Did Candy Conversation Hearts Get To Be A Symbol Of Valentine’s Day?

Giving a gift of candy with a message inscribed on it can be traced back to the American colonists who gave homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface to their sweethearts.

Years later, Oliver Chase, the founder NECCO and his brother Daniel, who developed the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on the candy, turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle.” A message was written on a colored slip of paper that was wedged into the cockle’s shell. NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was in shapes like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and  “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

Sweethearts And Motto Hearts

The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”  The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years with new ones added periodically. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

NECCO still uses their original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century. Putting out approximately 100,000 pounds of candy a day, it takes about 11 months to produce the more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day.  The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

Although you’d be hard pressed to call them nutritious, they are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.

Are You Ready For Some Super Bowl Food Facts – And Some Calorie Saving Tips?

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Will you be joining the ranks of over 20 million Americans who will attend a Super Bowl party?  Do you side with half of all Americans who say they would rather go to a Super Bowl party than to a New Year’s Eve party?

Some Amazing Super Bowl Food Facts:

  • About one in twenty (9 million) Americans watch the game at a restaurant or a bar.
  • Americans double their average daily consumption of snacks on Super Bowl Sunday, downing more than 33 million pounds in one day.
  • The average Super Bowl watcher consumes 1,200 calories. (Source: Calorie Control Council). Potato chips are the favorite and account for 27 billion calories and 1.8 billion fat grams — the same as 4 million pounds of fat or equal to the weight of 13,000 NFL offensive linemen at 300 pounds each. (Source: ScottsdaleWeightLoss.com).
  • Nearly one in eight (13%) Americans order takeout/delivery food for the Super Bowl. The most popular choices are pizza (58%), chicken wings (50%), and subs/sandwiches (20%). (Source:  American Journal).  Almost 70% of Super Bowl watchers eat a slice (or two or three) during the game.
  • The amount of chicken wings eaten clocks in at 90 million pounds or 450 million individual wings. It would take 19 chicken breasts to get the same amount of fat that you usually get from a dozen Buffalo wings.
  • On Super Bowl Sunday Americans eat an estimated 14,500 tons of potato chips, 4000 tons of tortilla chips, and eight million pounds of avocados. Five ounces of nacho cheese Doritos equals around 700 calories. You’d have to run the length of 123 football fields to burn them off.  You’d have to eat 175 baby carrots or 700 celery sticks to get the same number of calories.
  • Stew Leonard’s, a local chain of southwestern Connecticut grocery stores, sold more than 40,000 pounds of chicken wings and 10,000 pounds of barbecued ribs and 60,000 pigs-in-blankets ahead of Super Bowl Sunday in 2012.  This year they are slso offering some healthy alternatives along with the traditional game day food.  Choices include: grilled or roasted Mediterranean vegetables, hummus instead of high-fat and high-calorie sour cream onion dip, pita instead of potato chips, and provolone salad on crostini made from aged provolone diced with roasted peppers, carrots, red onions, parsley, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, white vinegar and a touch of brown sugar on pieces of fresh, crusty bread.
  • And, according to 7-eleven, sales of antacids increase by 20% on the day after Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Party Calorie Saving Tips

  • Stick with grilled meat, veggies, or baked chips rather than fried.
  • Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.
  • Plain bread, pitas, or wraps are less caloric than biscuits or cornbread.
  • Go for salsa and skip the guacamole.
  • Minimize calories by dipping chicken wings into hot sauce instead of Buffalo sauce.
  • Try using celery for crunch and as a dipper instead of chips.
  • Try fruit for dessert.
  • Go for thin crust rather than thick doughy crust pizza. Choose the slices with vegetables, not pepperoni or meatballs.  If you’re not embarrassed, try blotting up the free-floating oil that sits on top of a greasy slice (soak up even a teaspoon of oil saves you 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
  • Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating. Try alternating water or diet soda with beer or alcohol.  That can decrease your alcohol calories (alcohol has 7 calories/gram) by 50%.

The next post will give some examples of Good, Better, And Best Super Bowl Food Choices.

Do Football And Food Have Equal Footing On Super Bowl Sunday?

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Did you know that the first Super Bowl was in January 1967?  Although not an official holiday, Super Bowl Sunday certainly has assumed the trappings of one — both in the US and in many expat communities.  The Super Bowl broadcast is the most watched annual television program in the US and Super Bowl Sunday ranks second (Thanksgiving is first) as the day for most food consumption. Over 20 million Americans attend Super Bowl parties and half of all Americans say they would rather go to a Super Bowl party than to a New Year’s Eve party.

Game Time Food Is Everywhere

Think of all the hand to mouth munching on chips, dips, and wings; a swig or two or three; a cookie here and there.  And then there’s the “real food” at halftime – or maybe there was pizza first followed by a selection of subs. By the end of the game do you have a clue about how much – or even what — you have popped into your mouth?

You may – or may not – be riveted to the TV screen rooting hard for your team, but you may also be going along for the ride – happy to be at a party where there’s plenty of food and shouting and enthusiasm – a classic set-up for mindless and distracted eating which often happens when there is no “structure” and a lack planning and when you give into “head hunger” as opposed to actual physical hunger.

Regardless of how or how much you eat, it’s amazing how food has become associated with the day — from tailgating to the food for the game – and how inescapable the assault is on your senses from the TV, online and print advertising, and from the markets and bars trying to tantalize you with their “food for the game.”.  Many people just give in to the notion of eating all through the game – with an attitude of “it’s Super Bowl and I’m going to eat what I want” and they don’t give a hoot about quantity, quality, or calories.

That’s fine if that’s your choice.  Some lighter eating days before and after will probably take care of the extra calories. But, if you don’t want to overeat or eat overly caloric food there are plenty of good and tasty choices.  You can do just fine if you have a plan and don’t get sidetracked by the array of very caloric and usually very fatty foods.

Check back:  the next two posts will have some fascinating Super Bowl food facts and some alternative lighter calorie choices for your game day pleasure.

A Cheat Sheet For “Organic” – Different Foods, Different Meanings

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It seems that organic foods are becoming somewhat mainstream.  Each year, the sales of organic foods grow by 10 to 20% in the US. But a lot of different kinds of food is labeled organic. Do you know what you’re buying?

The term ”Organic” is not one size fits all and can  mean different things for different kinds of food.

Here’s what “Organic” means for various categories of foods according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Nutrition Action Healthletter:

  • ORGANIC FRUITS, NUTS, VEGETABLES, and GRAINS:  they’re not irradiated or genetically engineered; no synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or sewage sludge is used
  • ORGANIC MILK:  no growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs are used; all the cows’ feed for the previous 12 months has been 100% organic; the cows have access to outdoors; at least 30% of the cows’ diet has been from the pasture during the primary growing season
  • PACKAGED FOODS:  “100% Organic” means all ingredients are organic;  “Organic” means at least 95% of the ingredients are organic; “Made with Organic Ingredients” means at least 70% of the ingredients are organic
  • ORGANIC SEAFOOD:  there are no current official U.S. standards; the USDA is working on a standard for farm-raised seafood
  • ORGANIC EGGS:  they do not necessarily come from cage-free or free-range chickens;  hens are fed 100% organic feed with no added  growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
  • ORGANIC MEAT & POULTRY: the animals have access to outdoors; they are not given growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs; they’re raised on 100% organic feed; ]they aren’t fed animal byproducts and aren’t irradiated.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Is Your Coffee Or Tea Giving You A Muffin Top?

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Morning coffee.  Coffee break.  Afternoon tea.  A nice cup after dinner. Many of us love – need – our coffee or tea.  Hot, cold, it doesn’t always matter.

But, as you dump sugar and pour cream into mugs, thermoses, and those too hot to touch cardboard take-out containers, have you ever thought about how many calories you’re actually adding to an otherwise very low calorie drink? Probably not. They’re calories not usually measured and all to easy to forget.

What Do You Put Into Your Coffee Or Tea?

How much milk or half and half do you add to your coffee or tea? How much sugar? Bet you don’t have a clue.  We all do a freehand pour.  Try measuring how much you pour and you might be really surprised.

Here’s The Facts

Black brewed coffee and tea both have around two calories in an eight ounce cup. Not a bad deal.

Here’s the potential trouble:

  • Heavy cream, 1tbs:  52 calories
  • Half-and-half, 1 tbs:  20 calories
  • Whole milk, 1 tbs:  9 calories
  • 2% (low fat) milk; 1 tbs:  7 calories
  • Non-fat milk, 1tbs:  5 calories
  • Table sugar, 1tbs:  49 calories; 1tsp:  16 calories

Wow – It Can Add Up

Say you have three grande (Starbuck’s) – or large (Dunkin Donuts) – size coffees a day.  Each is 20 ounces or 2.5 times the size of a traditional 8 ounce cup.

If you add 4 tablespoons of half and half and three teaspoons of sugar to each — which sounds like a lot but is very east to do — that’s:

  • 128 calories for what you add and around 5 calories for the coffee for a total of 133 calories for each grande/large cup of coffee
  • If you have three of those that’s 399 calories a day
  • Do that every day for a year and that’s the equivalent of 145,635 calories a year.

Of course not everyone will drink this amount of coffee with this amount of half and half and sugar.  But, it does make you stop and think about how many calories you really are putting into your coffee.

In Case You’re Tempted By Something More

Here’s the nutritional information for some other Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts drinks:

  • Starbuck’s Hot Chocolate, grande (16 oz), 2% milk with whipped cream:  370 calories; 16g fat ; 50g carbs; 14g protein; 25mg caffeine.  Without whipped cream: 290 calories

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.